Just Before the End
by Mage-Pages
Summary: This is how it all began. Just before an Ancient evil begins to rise, a spaceman finds himself trapped on a distant planet, far from the ruined starship he had escaped. At first he wishes to return to his old life, but upon meeting people on the planet, he stays and soon finds himself entangled in destiny. Sort of a full yogscast backstory. Enjoy the Story!
1. Chapter 1

_(Hey guys. I'm new to the site and to Fanfiction in general, but I have written original fiction before. I've watched the Yogscast for a few years, and decided to give it a try. I have written about 15 chapters so far, and I will upload once a week. I hope you enjoy! -Mage-Pages)_

**Chapter one:**

Lalna held the beaker carefully. This first step was the most crucial stage of this experiment. The beaker held the contents of the last two years. Two years of frustration, research, and finally a glimmer of hope. Hope that the impossible could be done.

_Lab Entry One Lalna_

Today I started the initial stages of experiment Beta. I combined the DNA taken from my blood with that of a villager, and an Enderman. I am hoping to create an intelligent, docile Enderman that does not kill at a glance. The opportunities for research are endless! Anyway, it took several hours of gene splicing and genetic modifying, but after great concentration, it worked. The cells started to divide on their own. They mature at an exaggerated pace, so the specimen is already developing a corporeal form. After verifying that everything was operating at maximum efficiency, I transported the specimen into an embryo tank. At the current rate, the specimen will be full-grown within approximately a month. It will be adult when it comes out of the embryo tank. I am confident that Beta will have a much higher rate of success then experiment Alpha did. I have logged in many research hours in the past two years.

In unrelated news- Some sort of flying object fell out of the sky this afternoon. I did not see it, as I was very busy with the specimen, but the radars picked it up. It fell about five miles north of the Lab. I will investigate tomorrow, it is far too late now, and I must sleep.

_Signing off….._

Lalna awoke the next morning. He got up, and performed his usual morning routine. A loaf of bread, a Pork Chop, and then off to work. He made a courtesy check-up on all of his on-going projects. To be fair, there was not much going on, because of the main experiment he was currently working on. It had consumed most of his time for the past few years.

Finally it was time to check that final project. He walked down the hallway, and came to the thick iron door. A sign nearby read simply: "Project Beta". Several levers had to be pulled to open the door. Project Alpha had ended quite badly, hence the extra security precautions.

After a complex combination of levers had been pulled, the solid iron door swung open.

There was a mass of cables and machinery centered on a tank filled with light blue liquid. A thumb sized dot floated in the middle, connected to some of the machinery via thread-thin wires. Lalna checked a few monitors, and nodded, pleased. Everything was going well.

He left the room, locking it well behind him, and checked the lab log from the day before. The "unrelated" part caught his eye. The lab was on autopilot, and he should really see what the object had been. The radars had given him the coordinates, about five miles north. He had no reason not grabbed his jetpack and set out. Ten minutes later, he was there.

The object had actually been some form of space ship. It lay on the ground, crushed like an old tin can, still smoldering. Lalna landed a few paces away from the ship, carefully."Who're you?" A voice boomed out from behind him.

He turned, startled, but his voice held steady. "I'm Lalna. And you?" The other man was dressed in some sort of skin-tight suit. He looked impressed by Lalna's bravery, so gave a courteous answer. "My name is Xephos. Where am I?"Lalna considered before answering "About a four-month journey from any major town"

Xephos shook his head "No, no. I meant what planet am I on?"Lalna's eyes widened slightly. "Uh…this is the planet Minecraftia." He knew that space travel was theoretically possible, but had never been able to achieve orbit. This 'Xephos' spoke English, but it had a weird accent about it. Who knew how far away he was from?

Xephos frowned and mumbled to himself "Hmm… Minecraftia…that's far off-course." He walked distractedly past Lalna to his ship. He looked at a few melted wires, and a piece of charred engine that had fallen off. He sighed "It's hopeless! Just so much scrap metal now!"He angrily punched the smoking carcass. "OW!"

Lalna stood there, watching Xephos fume for a few moments. He couldn't help asking: "How did you come to be here?"Xephos sighed, "I live on a spaceship. All was well, but out of the blue a large fleet of enemies attacked us. We were losing badly, and the captain ordered us to evacuate. I was in the last pod, and it was just me. It malfunctioned somehow, and instead of going to the pre-destined coordinates, it took a random course. I could not control it, and it crashed." His face fell. "And now I'm stranded. I've met one other person here, and I'm lucky I did. His name is Honeydew, and he saved my life."

At that point, a ginger dwarf came walking over, holding a tankard of mead, or perhaps ale. He squinted up at Lalna "I've seen you before Goggles, doing all that science stuff."

Lalna nodded politely. He couldn't really say the same, considering he hardly ever saw the dwarves. They all lived in vast underground cities, and besides, they all had great quantities of hair growing out of their faces. He could not really tell one from the other.

Xephos was still speaking "I've met Honeydew, and now you and I understand that Honeydew lives with a tribe of dwarves, but are there other people around here?"

Lalna nodded "There are a few living in the woods. They worship the trees or something. I know one of them is a blonde, and goes by Marvin, or Marlin. It's something like that. They seem nice enough. There is an island, and a friend of mine Lomadia, lives there with her best friend Nilesy. There is a businessman a bit east trying to sell dirt. There are a few others, but I don't really know them. I tend to stay within my lab."

Xephos nodded "Thank you" Honeydew chimed in "You're going to need a place to stay for the night." He turned to Lalna. "A Creeper nearly killed him last night. He didn't even know what it was! Unfortunately, my tribe does not allow outsiders, especially humans, into our cities."

Lalna thought about this. Xephos needed a safe place to stay before nightfall, and he obviously didn't know anything about surviving on this world. He could invite Xephos to the lab.

"Well," He started "You can come with me to my lab, I could use the company."

He nodded to the dwarf. "You can come too, Honeydew"

They both accepted.

**End of Chapter One**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two **

**_(Author's Note- Hey guys! I'm so glad those of you who have read it have enjoyed it so _**_thoroughly. The reviews you have left me have motivated me to continue writing, and also lifted my spirits, so thanks! Don't hesitate to let me know if I mess something up. This is a learning process, and everything you say will help me. As of today, I have written 18 chapters and I have no intentions to stop. You all have a wonderful rest of your day! – Mage-Pages)_

**_Voice Journal Entry OneXephos_**

I'm starting a new voice log, due to the fact that everything has changed. The escape pod I have taken landed on a distant planet named "Minecraftia" I seem to have landed far from any towns, according to some locals. One of them, a scientist named 'Lalna', has given me shelter, along with a dwarf. The Dwarf's name is Honeydew, and he has been very friendly. He talks about the strangest things that live on this planet. Or rather, don't live. He speaks of undead rising every night, and tall black hominoids that can teleport, and attack if you look at them. He also speaks of alter dimensions that hold even stranger and more powerful creatures. It's probably all that mead he drinks talking. He told me, quite proudly, that mead is like water to his race. I am glad that the people that inhabit this planet can speak English. I seem to remember that Minecraftia was one of the first outer-space settling projects, about 600 years ago. I cannot however, explain the dwarves. Perhaps they are an indigenous race? Honeydew also talks of the great underground cities his kind inhabits. I have not spoken to Lalna as often, although he seems to be a very nice man. He is always in his lab.

I need to find the coordinates of this planet, so I can rejoin my crew at the rally point. This planet has the staple materials found throughout the galaxy, like iron, copper and such, and has many other materials I haven't heard of, but they haven't heard of or discovered of titanium on this planet. It's going to be hard to fix my ship without that!

End

Xephos leaned back in the chair in the nice guestroom Lalna had prepared for him. Honeydew's was across the hall. Xephos could hear the dwarf snoring. He slept most of the day. Xephos remembered earlier, at dinner. The dwarf had shown off by drinking four tankards of the extra-strong stuff his race brewed. He had then promptly passed out. When he woke up, he just shook it off, saying it was a bit stronger than he was used to. Then he asked for more. Xephos was amazed at the sheer amount of alcohol he could consume, yet he never seemed drunk or hung-over. Perhaps it was another ability of his race. Xephos had already seen the rate at which he could dig and swing a pick. Mining seemed to be a large part of life on Minecraftia. Honeydew constantly talked of it, and even Lalna disappeared into his network of tunnels every now-and-then.

This place was a lot different than life on the ship, that's for felt his eyes growing heavy, and he drifted off to sleep.

Across the hall, Honeydew was awakening from a deep sleep. Dwarfs were naturally nocturnal, so it wasn't unusual for him to sleep most of the day. But that stuff at dinner might have had something to do with it too. He reached for his tankard, on the stand beside the bed and took a hearty gulp. He got up with a groan, and looked in the mirror above the desk. There weren't really any mirrors underground, so it was a bit of a novelty to Honeydew. He puffed up his chest and stroked his ginger beard proudly.

There wasn't much to do, seeing as it was night, and both of the other men were probably being alone wasn't a new thing to Honeydew. That wasn't to say he had no friends; he enjoyed all the same things as the other dwarfs- drinking, and mining. But he never really felt like he belonged there. He liked to see the sun, the moon and the stars, but the rest of his tribe never came above ground. He was the only one.

He left the mirror, and walked across the corridor to Xephos's room. The spaceman was leaned back in the chair, fast asleep, still wearing that ridiculous skintight suit. Honeydew noticed a little electronic gadget on the desk in front of Xephos. Honeydew had no idea what it was. He wanted to take the gizmo and see what it did, but he didn't want to be caught snooping. He felt drawn Xephos somehow, as though Fate had planned something for a simple dwarf and a fallen spaceman. It seemed ridiculous

He shrugged, and walked down the hallway to where Lalna's room was.

He frowned when he arrived there. Goggles wasn't in his had a weird feeling about Lalna. He wasn't scared of the scientist, although many other dwarfs mistrusted science. He _had_ heard strange things though. Rumor said that one night, a few years ago something big had broken out of Lalna's lab, and that the scientist had stopped it, nearly at the cost of his own life.

Honeydew shrugged again. Never knew if you could trust rumors.

However, this rumor was, in fact, true. It was the dreaded 'Alpha' experiment. Lalna had been dabbling in the field of gene-splicing and cloning. He had created a bat/Enderman hybrid. He had thought that the bats neutrality towards people would take the Enderman's aggression away.

Needless to say, he was wrong. Instead, something had mutated, and the specimen had grown colossal. The sudden pain of its DNA tearing caused it to go temporarily insane. It resembled a great winged lizard. (Lalna had read about dragons only in books) Lalna tried to destroy it, but was nearly killed. Instead, he pulled open a wormhole with prototype technology. He managed to send the dragon into it, and force it closed. It had been quite a night.

None knew of the true incident. They only speculated based on the flashes and sounds coming from the lab at the top of the mountain. So to Honeydew, it was only a rumor, and he didn't trust rumors.

He left the doorway of Lalna's room, and headed back to his own. He sat on his bed and hummed a tune to himself, taking a gulp of his plentiful ale every now and due course, he fell back asleep.

Lalna hadn't been in his room because he was checking on Project Beta. It was about a week into development, and some small features were becoming visible. Lalna could also see that the specimen was male. Everything was going as should: the monitors showed no instability in its DNA, it was starting to have some mental activity, but he could not suppress a nervous feeling. He shook his head. Everything was going well. "_But" _a rebellious voice in his head whispered "_Everything was fine with Alpha until the very end."_

He shook his head again to clear the antagonistic voice. Everything would go right with this one. It had to! He had spent years on this! He left the room, and bolted the door tight behind him. His mind turned to other matters.

The spaceman and the dwarf for instance. Lalna hadn't really had company since he left his parents house in Minstrel City. That had been 6 long, happy years ago. The only person had had contact with here was his longtime friend Lomadia. He also saw the other people that lived nearby of course, but he did not really talk to them.

It was strange talking to other people. He only spoke to Lomadia through letters (she insisted on her owls carrying them) He was surprised by how much the spaceman knew about Redstone.

It had been a few days ago, when he first welcomed the others to the lab. Xephos had barely stepped through the door when he noticed a bit of machinery that separated different materials. He crouched by the circuitry. "Is this Redstone?" he had asked.

"Yeah" Lalna had replied.

"Wow… my people haven't used Redstone for dec-" He paused at the look on Lalna's face. "I mean… I know a way to make this more efficient." He stepped back "Just move this piece" He pointed "to here. Now you can take out those three others"

Lalna was impressed. He gained a whole new respect for the spaceman.

As for the dwarf, he was no more crude that the rest of his kind. He was constantly humming or singing to himself. He also had a shockingly high alcohol tolerance.(Lalna had offered him some stronger stuff, but Honeydew would only drink dwarf-brewed mead). However, unlike other dwarfs, he didn't seem to hate being above ground.

Lalna got to his room, but instead of sleeping, he looked for a bare spot on the wall. Most of the walls and ceiling were covered in a colorful mural. He found a satisfactory spot, and began to painted all night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

_(Authors Note- Wow. I really cannot thank you all enough for the support you guys have given me. I really never expected to get more than 50 views on my first two chapters, and thanks to all of you, I have. Don't hesitate to leave a review if anything can be improved, or if you just like the story. In some personal news, I broke a finger on my right hand, so typing is not an easy thing anymore. I have enough chapters written in advance that I should still be able to upload every Friday. Enjoy the rest of your day, and enjoy the story!)_

Xephos awoke the next morning, sore from his night in the chair. It had been about a week since he had crashed his ship. He could vaguely recall Lalna telling him about other people around here, and he wanted to meet a few of them. He stretched, and put down his voice recorder. A few minutes later, he was ready to leave.

He set down the hall to Lalna's room, and found him intently studying a few line graphs. He noted with some amusement the paint blotches on the scientist's coat. So he was an artist as well as a genius. Interesting. The scientist had dark circles under his eyes, although he had been up all night. Perhaps he had. Then Xephos actually noticed the walls and ceiling. He was impressed to say the least.

A fantastic masterpiece spanned the majority of the room's surfaces. It seemed as though every style of art was represented. Dark cloudy landscapes bordered bright happy ones. Some of it was photo-realistic, and some was abstract and blurred. Only one large patch on the floor lacked paint. It looked like it had been deliberately avoided.

Lalna looked up to see the spaceman staring at the Mural. Xephos's eyes were wide, and his jaw gaped. "Wow…" He whispered. Lalna felt odd. No one had enjoyed his work before. Xephos turned to Lalna. "This is amazing! I can't-" He was cut short when Lalna dismissed him with a careless wave of his hand. "It's nothing. It's terrible. It's just a hobby." Lalna's voice was bitter. "I'm sorry you had to see it."

Xephos wanted to protest. It really was incredible, but he did not want to anger his new friend. "Right…" he paused awkwardly. The atmosphere in the room was very tense. "Well, I'm just going to go on a walk, see the sights…" his voice dropped off again. He was just about to leave when Lalna spoke in a flat monotone "Take a weapon." He pointed to a display stand. "And the dwarf. He knows the area."

Xephos nodded and grabbed a well-worn iron blade. He glided down the hall to Honeydew's room, uncertain about Lalna's suddenly hostile mood.

"Good morning Honeydew" Xephos poked his head into the room. The dwarf was combing his beard. He had just gotten up. "Ah, hello Xephos. What's up?" He put down the comb as Xephos replied; "Well, I'm heading out for a walk, and was told to take you. Are you up for it?" Honeydew's face lit up. "Sure! That sounds great" he grabbed his own sword "You know, we're going to have to see about getting you some armor. I don't think that thing you're wearing is going to do much against arrows"

Xephos's eyes widened "Who's going to be shooting at me?!" Honeydew flashed him a wicked grin "The Skellingtons of course." Soon, they left the lab, Honeydew talking animatedly about different types of stones, and their uses, and Xephos listening closely, intrigued.

Lalna watched Xephos leave. He felt bad about yelling at him, but for Lalna's entire life he had been shunned for his art work. Surely Xephos was just teasing him now. Lalna put the thought out of his head, and yawned. He was tired! He stretched, and put away the graphs he had been studying. He gazed up at the colorful ceiling as he fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the other two had been walking for about fifteen minutes, and Honeydew was winding down from a long tirade against gravel. The path they had been following was becoming slightly overgrown. Xephos suddenly noticed the size of the trees around him. "How…" he started, gazing up in wonder. Honeydew shrugged his shoulders "I'm not sure. It's not a normal thing; they're only this huge in this forest"

Xephos accredited the phenomenon to extra-rich soil. There was no other way such giants could grow ordinarily. Still, the trees practically glowed! He made himself dismiss the trees, and asked Honeydew a question; "You've told me about every type of stone and ore, but what of the people and…creatures?" he wasn't really comfortable with saying 'monsters'. It made everything seem like fiction. Monsters were not a real thing, but creatures could be.

"Well," started Honeydew. "for people there are humans, like you and dwarves, like me. There are also Testificates. They can't really talk with us, but they are intelligent enough to barter. There are passive creatures, and monsters. Generally, we just call them 'mobs'. The bad guys are zombies, spiders…" He kept listing them, but was interrupted by a loud laugh, not too far away.

Honeydew drew his sword, and silently crept towards the sound. Xephos followed him, doing the same. The laughter had come from a nearby clearing. Both Honeydew and Xephos hid behind the same tree. It was so large that it was enough room for ten men to hide behind. Xephos carefully observed the clearing.

A wooden house stood in the center of the clearing. Two men sat outside around a fire pit, laughing amiably about something. One was blonde, and the other was sitting in the shadows, but it looked like he had brown hair. They both had bows. The blonde had his back to them, so they could see as he quietly reached behind himself and plucked a stick off the ground.

The blonde jumped up, slapping the other in the arm lightly with the stick. "Kill Toby!" he yelled. The brown-haired one, presumably Toby, clutched his arm in mock agony, and leaned over as he groaned in fake pain. He suddenly lost his balance. "Ow!" he complained as he fell off the log he had been sitting on.

The blonde couldn't hold back a chortle. Then he reached out an arm to help his friend up. "I'm sorry Toby." He said kindly "But man-"he stopped in the middle of his sentence "hang on a sec." he whispered, and dropped Toby back onto the ground. "Hey!" Toby protested.

The blonde swung his bow from his back, nocking an arrow and raising it in one fluid motion. "Who's there?" he called threateningly. He tightened his grip on the bow. "Show yourselves, and don't make any sudden movements!" Honeydew smiled wanly at Xephos, and sheathed his sword, motioning that Xephos do the same."Just let me do the talking" he whispered. He seemed to pray for a moment before he left the shelter of the tree. Xephos followed him cautiously.

"Hello there." Honeydew calmly said to the blonde. He held his hands out open and watched as Toby got up, giving the blonde a dirty look. "What are your names?" Toby asked.

"I'm Honeydew." The dwarf replied. "And this is Xephos"

The blonde lowered his bow; a friendly smile replaced the menacing glare. "Hello everybody! I'm Martyn. You can come over here, I won't shoot you." He strapped the bow to his back. Honeydew headed towards Martyn, hesitantly, though he didn't show it. Xephos had no choice but to follow. Martyn saw the worried look on his face "Don't worry! Honestly, I just wanted to be sure you weren't that uh…" he paused thoughtfully "I was making sure you weren't that Sips fellow. We had to chase him away with arrows. He wanted to cut down the trees!" Xephos nodded mutely. He felt sorry for whoever Sips was. He took a seat around the fire pit. "So-" Toby asked "How did you wind up in the middle of the woods anyway?" He obviously wasn't asking about their walk, but about Xephos's strange clothes and Honeydew's being above ground. Xephos laughed, almost insanely, and Honeydew said "It's a long story"

Martyn pointed at the sun "Well, we have nothing but time." Over the next few hours, Honeydew told the happenings of the past few days, stopping frequently for a gulp of ale. Martyn was impressed. "Wow." Toby said.

Xephos had a question "What's with all these trees anyway?" he asked

Martyn's face got very serious "that, my friend, is an even longer story "

"We've got nothing but time" Xephos replied.

* * *

Martyn looked into the eager, almost childlike faces of the spaceman and the dwarf. There was something special about them. "Right. Well, long ago, way before this forest had taken root; a small group of people came to the land. They saw great fields, and rolling hills, so decided to settle it, and live out their simple existences. Life was unchanged for several generations, but the descendents of the original tribe started to develop special talents. Magic, if you will. Other groups than the first had started to join the community, and were nervous and jealous of those with special powers. The unpowered far outnumbered the gifted, and forced them from society. The outsiders created their own life in the forest, but over time, their numbers shrank. Those that left soon lost their powers, but those that remained grew far stronger. A gre-"

"Are you ever going to _tell _them what the powers were?" Toby interrupted. Martyn shot him a look "Of course. Anyway, a great forest grew where those with power lived. Soon, they became the care keepers of the trees, and they trees became _aware._" Both he and Toby made some sort of symbol across their chests. Martyn continued in a solemn tone. "These people lived this way for many years. Over many generations, distinct traditions developed, until they were far different than the people they had first come from. Once a keeper reached a certain age, they developed a bond with a single tree. That tree came first, and the keeper's tree would grow greater and stronger. When the keeper passed on, their spirit would go into the tree, to live eternally, and give wisdom to future generations. All my family, save my father is with their trees." His face fell slightly. "But they are all far from here. If no trees bind with a keeper when they come of age, the keeper is sent out to find their tree elsewhere. Toby and I didn't find a tree in our home forest, so we left together. We traveled for several months, and settled here, a year or so ago. The forest was normal then, but our presence has bolstered their growth, much like our ancestors had started the First Great Forest long ago." He seemed finished, but Toby broke in again. "Martyn!" He chided "You didn't tell them about the One. That's my favorite part!"

Martyn sighed, but smiled "Fine. The One is an all powerful spirit that a prophet predicted would one day appear when things became desperate. The One was innately bonded to all trees, and could heal them with only the slightest effort. He was mortal, but lived for several hundred years. according to legend, He showed himself when our people were attacked by a human army from the society my people had long left behind. This particular army was from the first settlement in the area that the gifted ones had been cast out of. It had grown into 'Mistral City". The army was made of people called 'Sky Lords' and it was difficult to defeat one, let alone the entire millita! The One drew forth an incredible magic, and stopped them all. However, he let the city be, on the condition that they leave the woods people alone. Then he vanished. Legend says that he will appear again, but I don't really buy it."

A strange heaviness hung over the clearing, which Toby ruined by playfully throwing a chunk of dirt at Martyn's head. "You've ruined it!" Toby accused, not really angry. "Of course he's real. He will return one day." He blushed slightly under the questioning stares he got from the visitors. "I've, uh… read a lot on the subject. Like every book our tribe had."

Martyn chuckled, and Honeydew huffed in admiration. "I can hardly read." He said. "Not really something you learn in the mines." Xephos raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment. The three men (and the dwarf) laughed, and made conversation for around another hour, when Toby gasped and pointed at the sky which was dimmer than before. "You guys had better get home before the mobs come out!" he exclaimed.

Honeydew nodded his agreement and quickly got up. He and Xephos made their goodbyes and promises to visit if they were in the area again. Then, just as abruptly, they were off to the lab. They walked in silence for a ways, until Xephos broke the stillness. "Pretty cool guys" he said. "Yep" Honeydew agreed "But weird." Xephos nodded. That pretty much summed it up.

They made it to the lab safely.

**End of Chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

During all of this, Lalna was at the lab, dreaming. He dreamt he was in his room, at his parent's house in Minstrel City. He was 14 years old, and his mother was there.

"Lalna, why can't you see sense!?" she screamed. "Forget this art rubbish, and train to be a Skylord like your father! Drawings won't pay the bills!" Lalna's mother had found sketchbooks and drawing supplies that Lalna had bought with the money he was meant to be saving for the Skylord academy. She picked up all the art stuff she could see, and stuffed it into a bag. Lalna knew he wouldn't see it again.

He stared at her reproachfully, feeling the burning behind his eyes, but not allowing any tears to fall. The only person that had respected his love for art was his friend Lomadia, but she and her family had moved away last summer. Now he had no one to hide behind, so had to take the limitless anger and disappointment of his family. Every male child in his family had gone to Skylord academy, and the fact that Lalna refused and had taken up an interest in artistry was heresy to the family name.

Lalna's mother stopped yelling and glared at him. "Why can't you appreciate what you have?" she hissed, as she slammed the door to Lalna's bedroom behind her. Lalna bowed his head, refusing to cry, though his mother was gone. He grabbed the only sketchpad she had missed from under his mattress and scribbled furiously. A dark shape took form, and a single teardrop fell onto the paper.

And Lalna woke up. He had had the dream far too often to be emotionally affected by it anymore, and was more antagonized by the sketch he had started, only to wake before he could get a real glimpse of it. He was sure that the drawing that eluded him was _meant _to go on the bare patch on his floor, but he never got a clear look at it. He could recall actually drawing it too. All to vividly he could remember his mothers angry tone. That had been the first time he realized he wasn't wanted.

Lalna got up, and glanced at his watch, which he had left on while he slept. It was early evening, and as if on cue, he heard the spaceman's booming laugh. They must have just returned. Lalna left his room, with the intention of apologizing to Xephos for his rudeness earlier. He followed the faint sound of their voices, past the entrance to the mines and the heavily barricaded door to project Beta. The two guests were in the Dwarf's room, and were deep in conversation.

"Minecraftia is such an amazing place!" Xephos exclaimed. "Yeah, it's a bit different than life on the, uh… what was it again?" asked Honeydew "The Enterprise" supplied Xephos. His tone was excited. "I would love to see more of this world. I might stay for awhile, as I don't know if I'll be able to rebuild my pod."

Lalna decided to stop eavesdropping. "Hey guys," he greeted, poking his head through the door. "Did you two have a nice walk?" Xephos smiled "Yeah, we met those tree worshipers you mentioned. Their names are Martyn and Toby." Lalna nodded. Those names sounded vaguely familiar. Xephos quickly recapped their visit, finishing with, "They're pretty nice guys, once they stop trying to shoot you." Lalna smiled. He recalled his first meeting with those two. It hadn't gone as well.

Xephos's voice got serious. "Lalna, I'm thinking about leaving. I thank you for your hospitality, but there is so much out there to see. In the wonders of space, I'd forgotten just how amazing the worlds can be."

Honeydew broke into what was obviously a much practiced speech. "You're leaving so soon?!" he asked, alarmed. Both the scientist and Xephos stared at him, and Honeydew turned as red as his beard. He looked down at his hands, which were idly fiddling with a piece of stone. He took a deep breath and met their questioning gazes squarely. "I'm going with you." He said resolutely. "I've got nothing left for me in the mines. I'm meant to follow you. I can feel it."

A wide smile broke out on the spaceman's face "Great!" He exclaimed "I didn't want to go alone!" He and the dwarf quickly laid out plans for when they would leave, and what supplies they would need. Lalna was glad they had found the path they wanted to take from here, but was also a bit sad. He hadn't realized how lonely he had gotten in his isolation. Still, it was better that they would be gone when Beta was ready… just in case.

They made plans to leave in a week. Life in the lab passed without much incident. The three formed a strong friendship over nights singing, dining, and in Lalna and Xephos's case, tinkering with bits of metal and wire. Xephos made a little robot that would dance across a flat surface when powered, but Lalna had him beat with a tiny force field emitter. Honeydew only succeeded in making a pick from the metal, leaving the wires alone. He insisted that his was the best.

When the day came to go their separate ways, none of them were completely dry-eyed, though Honeydew was likely more distraught by the realization that he would lose his supply of dwarf ale. Nevertheless, he said he would be fine, and that he was a stronger dwarf than that. The spaceman and the dwarf set out, those bold first steps marking the beginning of a legend. Those steps would be sung about for eons, and this is the noble tale that leads to their glorious triumph.

_(Authors note- Well, this is the end of part one. Make sure to let me know what you think! I'm learning as I write this, so any input at all is very helpful. I'm planning on making this __**really**__ long, and I don't really know exactly when it will be 'over'. I've written 22 chapters by the time I'm uploading this. I can see sequels and spin offs in the future. I apologize for any terrible liberties I may have taken with the established back-stories of the Yogscast. Here is to hoping you are well. Love you guys, and thanks so much for reading this. Part two coming soon! (As in, uploading next Friday as I always do. I've already written it) - Mage-Pages)_


	5. Chapter 5

**Part Two**

_(Author's Note- Hey guys! I broke 250 total views, which is a huge deal to me. Thank you so much. I've been battling cold after cold, and I've been pretty miserable, but I don't have to go to school as often so I have more time to work on this. Yay! I've finished 23 chapters after defeating a severe case of writer's block. I'm pretty happy about the quality of it too. Looking back on some of these earlier chapters, which I wrote about 6 months ago, I'm noticing just how much I've matured as a writer, and it's all thanks to the support I've received through this website. I'm working hard to finish this story (End still not in sight, however). Once I finish it, I will upload the reminder much more frequently. No guarantees, but that's what I'm working towards. Have a wonderful rest of your day everyone!)_

_(Extra Note- This is the second time I've uploaded this. The first time it looked like some sort of weird code. I don't know what caused that to happen, but hopefully this will mend the issue)_

**Chapter 5**

It was early morning in the woods, and Martyn awoke before Toby. He left the cabin quietly, as to not awake his friend, who lay on the bed opposite Martyn's. It was a small cabin, and the beds had only a few feet of space between them. A chest and a wooden crafting table were on the opposite wall, and the door was a few meters from the foot of Toby's bed. Through this door Martyn stealthily crept into the fresh air outside. The bigger trees fluttered their leaves in greeting, and went back to whatever business trees normally attend to. Martyn didn't really know what to do. Life in the woods was an uneventful affair, and the two made a decent living on the resources available. They had no ambitions to build massive constructions, and were quite content with what they had.

Martyn decided to do what he generally did in the mornings, and carefully strung his bow. He dragged a much abused hay bale from behind the house, leant a battered wooden target against it, and stood about 75 paces away. He raised the bow, nocked an arrow, drew back the string, and fired. The arrow whipped through the air and hit the dead center of the target, the arrowhead buried a half inch into the wood. Martyn was an excellent shot.

After scoring a few more perfect shots, and one that fell out of the target, he walked over to the hay bale to retrieve his arrows. He knelt to pick up the single arrow that had fallen out when he heard a crackle in the woods on the other side of the clearing.

He acted quickly. It could be Xephos and the dwarf again- or that miserable Sips! He turned quickly, an arrow already poised to launch.

It wasn't either. There, at the edge of the clearing, and looking extremely shocked, stood a Goddess. Her most striking feature was her flowing blonde hair. Her face was like the rising sun, glorious in its beauty. (As you may be able to tell, Martyn didn't see many girls, living deep in the woods as he did.)

He nearly dropped his bow. "Uh… hello," He stammered. "I'm Martyn" he nearly bowed between his shock and trying to catch his bow before it fell. He had no idea how to act.

She looked at him for a moment, bemused. Then she spoke with (to Martyn's ears) the voice of an angel: "I'm Kaeyi" A sharp breeze caught the ends of the headband Martyn was wearing, and he noticed the chill in the air. Kaeyi was shivering. Martyn gestured to the fire, which was still smoldering from the night before. "Come over here please." He said. "Sit by the fire, and have something to eat. It's cold out." He sat on one of the logs by the fire pit and began to poke the fire to revive the glowing coals. He also put a pot onto the embers, to warm last night's leftovers.

It was getting rather chilly, instead of warmer as it should have been, so she didn't hesitate long. She gratefully took a seat on the log beside Martyn. "Thank you," she said. "I've been lost in the woods for three days now. I wasn't sure I would live to see another sunrise." Martyn offered her a bowl of steaming mushroom stew, which she gladly took. "So…" he asked "How did you come to be in these woods anyway? I've never seen you before." She smiled. "Just exploring, but a few days ago, my stuff was destroyed by a Creeper. I barely avoided getting blown up myself." Martyn winced in sympathy. "I detest Creepers."

After the ice was broken, the two talked and laughed like old friends, though they had just met. A few hours later, Toby got up, and left the cabin. He was a bit confused when he saw Martyn and an unknown girl sitting by the fire pit together. They had their backs to him, but he could see that they were holding hands. Though his confusion was understandable, he didn't say anything. Such is life in the woods

* * *

About 5 or 6 miles east, another notable partnership was forged. A very pale man was pacing among the normal sized trees near his cabin, visions of grandeur running through his head. He paused for a moment to glance at the sky through a gap in the leaves above, when something charged onto the path a few feet in front of him.

The man couldn't get a good look at first, only that it was large and dirty. The figure paused mid-charge when it noticed the pale man, so quickly that it plowed directly into the ground.

"Oh" the pale man said "Oh God. What the **_hell _**happened to you?" he was understandably very shocked. The thing lying in front of him was in fact a human, smudged with lots of dirt, with many small scratches along his body. The pale man could painfully see too much of said body. The stranger was clad in only a loincloth. He twitched anxiously and muttered some gibberish about a village and too many drinks.

The pale man laughed nervously. "Yeah, _way _too many drinks. I'm Sips, by the way." He said as he knelt beside his knapsack, and rummaged through it. The stranger watched him cautiously like an animal, twitching somewhat less. Sips pulled out a pair of patched leather trousers, and thrust them at the lunatic. "For God's sake, put these on."

The stranger mutely followed Sip's orders, while Sips turned away. When he turned back, the man had them on- backwards. Sips sighed and looked at the man, who looked slightly less delirious. "Food?" the stranger asked in a cracked rasp. Sips dug in the pack again, and gave a loaf of bread to the stranger. "_This schmuck better pay me back." _He thought.

The man dug into the bread like a starving animal. "Shiiit…" Sips whispered quietly, slightly awed. The man had already finished the bread. He looked much better now, just a bit battered from the woods and somewhat caked in dirt.

"What's your name?" Sips asked. He wasn't really expecting the man to respond, but he figured he should try anyway. The man took a deep breath, and concentrated, as though trying to remember. "Sjin" he said finally.

"And how did this happen again?" Sips asked. Sjin looked down, and launched into his story. His voice was weak at first, but quickly gained strength. "I can't remember much, but I lived in good sized town, working as an architect. I was fired from the biggest contract of my career, and I stopped by the pub to drown my woes. I had a few drinks of that new dwarf whiskey, and…" he paused. "That's when it gets foggy. The barkeeper threw me out for my disruptive behavior, and the spirits were burning in my veins. I don't know what's up with Dwarf brewed stuff, but I was seeing things, and hearing things. I was sure a monster was chasing me! Instead of going home, I ran into the woods. I don't know why, and I'm not sure how long ago that was. I guess I went a little crazy." Sjin chuckled uneasily.

Sips nodded. The story made sense. He had tried the dwarf whisky the only time he had visited Mistral city. He couldn't remember anything of his visit, besides waking up twenty feet up a tree in a bikini top and a plaid schoolgirl skirt, with half of the city police trying to get him down. It wasn't exactly light stuff, and he had been banned from the entire city.

It sounded like this 'Sjin' guy had nowhere to go, and was definitely in need of some sort of help. Exploiting him would actually be a good deed! "Well Sjin if I remember correctly, you said you were an architect?" Sips asked. Sjin nodded. "Great!" Sips enthused. "I need help building some stuff, so you could come and work for me." He smiled enticingly. His grin was more scary than reassuring. He exposed far too many teeth

Sjin was quick to accept. "_He could have just left me here-_" He thought "_And now he's offering me work? What do I have to lose?_" He nodded. "Sure, there's nothing left for me at my town, even if I could find it."

Sips turned and walked briskly along the path back home "Well follow me then!" he shouted over his shoulder. Sjin hurried to catch up, and Sips smiled all the way to his base. Labor didn't usually come so cheap!

**End of Chapter 5**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_(Author's Note- Hey guys. I'm uploading this early because I'm leaving for a family trip the instant school gets out on Friday. Camping, Hooray. So I'm putting this up early seeing as I will be unable to while stumbling around in the middle of the woods. A huge thanks to all of you who helped me figure out the weird code-like way the last chapter uploaded. My best guess is that something in the servers went horribly wrong. I hope that it does not happen again.- Have a wonderful rest of your day!) _

_(Update- I returned from an amazing and eye-opening voyage in the wilderness to discover that once again my story didn't upload. -_- It's quite annoying because I don't have internet, so everytime I want to upload I have to trek over to the library or some other WIFI hot spot. Anyway, to the hope it works this time , have a Wonderful rest of your day! –Mage-Pages)_

Lalna peered into the embryo tank, unable to believe his eyes. The specimen was about a week from term, and despite the Enderman genes in his DNA, physically appeared to be fully human! Lalna had been so involved in Beta in the last few weeks, he hadn't shaved since the dwarf and the spaceman had left, two weeks ago. He stroked the resulting stubble thoughtfully.

**Beta Lab Log Two Lalna**

For information first, I have examined the Beta specimen thoroughly, and have determined that it has the physical appearance of a 15 year old human. It is about ¼ Enderman, but shows no physical characteristics of that heritage as of yet. It has healthy mental activity, and active dream sequences. I have tried to transmit some basic memories, such as language, via electrical pulses, but I have no way of knowing yet if it worked. Beta shows no sign of sudden mutation like Alpha, and that is definitely a blessing.

In unrelated news, I have spotted several new people in the area. I haven't bothered any of them, but I'm concerned that I might have to move my lab. I've built in the middle of nowhere to get away from civilization, but it seems it has followed me. I don't want anyone to get hurt by some folly of my own. Xephos and Honeydew are doing well. They've discovered Lomadia's favorite way of communicating; owls. She visited the mainland, and after learning they were friends of mine, offered to let them use a few of her owls. They sent me a letter, saying they were getting settled in some woods east of here. Xephos wants to see everything Minecraftia has to offer before reuniting with his people. I hope they visit again.

Now, since I am the only one who will listen to these, I would like to confess a secret worry. Perhaps saying it to this recorder will help ease my dilemma. I have a feeling, that what I'm doing, creating hybrid life, is not exactly moral. This one will have at least human intelligence. I don't want to become personally involved. This is for science, and I can't let anything obstruct it. I have come too far to stop now.

End of Recording

Lalna sighed, giving the tank one last, long look. He shut the heavy door behind him, and locked it. He walked along the hall, stopping beside a wooden door identified by a sign as "Project Immortal". 'Beta' was more flashy and impressive, but 'Immortal' was of a much greater scope.

Lalna pushed open the door and walked over to a cage on the far wall. It held several bats, hanging upside-down from the bars. Next to the cage on one side was a black box, about a square foot in volume, with a heavy glass lid. A tube connected to the wall, and lead to this box. On the other side of the cage was a computer, which hummed quietly. A large screen covered most of one of the walls. Lalna sat in front of the computer, and looked over a long string of code. Occasionally he would frown and edit a few lines. All was silent, save the humming of the computer and the clicking of the keyboard. Even the bats were quiet.

A few hours later Lalna leaned back in the chair, at last satisfied with the program. He pressed one final key, enter. A small metal chip fell into a dish from a chute in the wall.

Lalna carefully pulled on a pair of gloves, loaded the miniscule chip into a syringe, and opened the cage door. He reached in carefully, and gently grabbed one of the sleeping bats. It fluttered it wings, frightened until Lalna quickly injected the chip into the back of the creature's neck. There was a mild tranquilizer in the shot as well, and the bat was almost immediately in a sleepy stupor. As Lalna had hoped, the bat's vital signs showed up on the large monitor that occupied the entire wall to the right of the doorway. The heart rate was slightly slowed from the tranquilizer, but otherwise, it was in perfect health. Lalna turned and checked the number of bats still in the cage: five.

Lalna opened the glass lid on the box, and gingerly put the dozing bat in it. He closed and latched the lid, and then pressed a button on the side of the box. A clear, but deadly gas seeped in through the hose. On the monitor, the bat's heartbeat slowed, and then stopped all together. Lalna held his breath. Now it was time to see if the coding had done any good. For an immeasurable moment, nothing happened.

Then, suddenly the bat glowed, and faded away. Lalna glanced at the cage, and saw a sixth shape taking form! Soon, a very shocked bat was inside the cage, shivering, and glaring at Lalna. Inside the black box, the chip glimmered in the light. A wide smile covered Lalna's face. At last it had worked!

He sat at the computer, and made a few adjustments to the code. Again, he pressed enter, and a new chip fell into the dish. However, instead of staying there, it flew into the air and dove into Lalna's neck. All he felt was a sharp pinch for a moment. Then his eyes widened. On the big monitor, a tiny icon of himself along with his heartbeat, and his overall heath on a scale of 1-20 appeared. (He was at 19, because he was a bit hungry). The significance of this was enormous. If Lalna were to die somehow, he would reappear next to where he had last slept. Theoretically, he couldn't die!

Lalna dashed off to record his achievement, and in his haste he forgot to shut down the program.

As he wrote of his scientific triumph, millions of the tiny chips were flying into the air. They could easily fit under doors, and so they left the lab, seeking human or human like life all over the planet. The world would never be the same.

Deep in the woods, Martyn and Kaeyi were sitting under one of the massive trees. Martyn was telling her the legends of his people, and Kaeyi listened with a smile on her face. The two had become rather close in the time Kaeyi had stayed with Martyn. In fact, Martyn was thinking about inducting her into his people's lifestyle, if the trees were willing. In the stories, ungifted folk could be given the powers if a tree took a liking to them. The tree would bond with the person, much like the bonding between a keeper and their tree. However, such an occurrence was very rare, seeing as normal people lacked the empathy to relate with a tree.

The tree they were under was in fact Martyn's tree and it stood tall and proud. Every once in a while, it would brush it's consciousness against Martyn's just to say that all was well. It didn't oppose allowing Kaeyi in the forest, and indeed admired her gentle way with plant life.

Suddenly, Martyn and Kaeyi both slapped the back of their necks. Martyn grinned and caught Kaeyi's eye. "Stupid bugs." He said. She smiled, and leaned against him. "So, tell me more about those powers." She said.

A short walk away, Toby sat on his bed inside a tiny new cabin in the clearing. Kaeyi and Martyn had the old one to themselves now. Toby wanted to say he wasn't jealous, but he would be lying. He wasn't jealous that Martyn had a girlfriend or anything; it's just that Toby never spent any time with Martyn anymore. They had been friends since infancy, but suddenly Martyn didn't have the time for old friends.

Toby was trying to read a book, but couldn't concentrate. All he could think about was how he had left home to follow his friend, like he always had, only to be pushed aside by some girl. It was all he had thought about for the last few weeks. He wasn't resentful of Kaeyi either, he was just _sad_. He sighed forlornly. It didn't help that his tree was getting weaker for some reason, and that tiredness was spreading to Toby. Suddenly a painful sting on the back of his neck triggered a very uncharacteristic tantrum. Toby threw the book across the small room, where it hit the wall with a thud.

He walked over to the book and bent to pick it up. He was trembling, and a lone tear streaked down his face. What had he done to deserve such misery?

* * *

East of there, Sjin was digging with a nearly broken shovel. He had an enormous order to fill by the end of the week, of dirt no less! The buildings Sips wanted would be hard to build, and it was going to take awhile to get the materials. Until then, Sips had him doing manual labor. Sjin couldn't really complain, because it was better than clinging to life deliriously in the woods. As it was, he was sweating too hard to feel the chip plunge into his spine. In the house, Sips was sleeping, because he had to get his beauty rest. He brushed the discomfort away clumsily, still asleep.

Another few miles away, a comfortable little house was nestled among some hills in a clearing of a different forest. Xephos and Honeydew were walking out to their mine when the chips found them. "Ow!" Honeydew exclaimed. Xephos was rubbing the back of his own neck. "Maybe it's some stinging gnats or something." He suggested "We should get underground. They won't bother us there."

"Alright." The dwarf replied. The two mined for about an hour when Xephos decided to leave. He needed to check on the tiny farm they had started, and also chop a few trees. Honeydew remained underground, happily mining away for a few more hours. Just as he was preparing to leave, he heard the telltale hiss of an angry Creeper. He reacted quickly, turning around in a microsecond, but it was too late. The Creeper had already swollen up, and Honeydew didn't have enough time to do anything, other than instinctively cover his face. He screamed "OH GOD N-". The creeper blew up, leaving a large crater where the dwarf had been. The mangled body of the ginger flew into the air, and fell to the floor, letting a final breath go.

"-O!" yelled Honeydew, sitting bolt upright in bed. He looked around, confused. He had just died, hadn't he? Xephos stepped into the room. "What's wrong?" he asked "And how did you get in here without me seeing you?" Honeydew shrugged helplessly, his brain still unable to make sense of what had just happened. Eventually he got out of the bed, and beckoned to Xephos. "Follow me." He said slowly. He walked out of the house, and down into the mine, on the lookout for any mobs. He stopped at the crater where he had blown up, and pointed with a trembling hand. "I died." He said "right there." His voice was strangely blank of emotion. As Xephos watched, he climbed into the hole, and picked up his pickax, which was on the bottom, among a few ingots of metal. He crushed the tiny chip underfoot because he didn't see it. The pickax had a sizeable chunk taken out of the handle, and the head had a crack in it from the blast. It wouldn't stand up to much more mining.

Honeydew felt the sting on his neck again, and brushed it with his hand. He looked at the minute drop of blood on his finger tip, and wiped it on his trousers. He left the mine without a word, Xephos a step behind. Both harbored their own secret worries.

**End of Chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7 and 8

_(Author's Note- Hello there! I'm uploading two chapters together today, because for some reason past me thought it was a good idea to write really short chapters. The rest of them are a decent length. REALLY hoping everything uploads correctly this time. Thanks for the input from everyone who left reviews. I 3 reviews. If someone would care to PM me the general information of some of the somewhat lesser known Yogs, (Such as hat films, Bebobvox, Davechaos, and ridgedog.) that would be great. I received a request to write about them, but I unfortunately do not have any experience watching them. They won't be mentioned for a long while, but I will try to fit them in eventually. Thank you so much and Have a wonderful rest of your day!- Mage-Pages)_

**Chapter 7**

Back in the woods, Toby knelt on the ground, holding his abused book. He couldn't stop the traitorous thoughts running through his mind. "_Martyn doesn't care about you anymore." _They whispered "_He doesn't have the time for anyone but Kaeyi." _He desperately tried to squash the thoughts. It wasn't either of their faults! But they wouldn't leave, just echoing around his mind over and over.

A second tear trickled down his cheek. He knew that the best thing would be to just leave. No fuss, just pack his things and go before Martyn returned from his walk with Kaeyi. But he brushed that thought away. "Quit running away Toby." He said it out loud. "Be strong for once." The tears left his eyes as he grabbed a quill and a piece of paper. A sense of peace filled him, as he realized he was going to do it. No more worrying and secret tears. No more putting on a happy face for people who didn't care. He scrawled a note, and left it on his bedside table. He packed his leather bag that he took everywhere with most of his belongings, which wasn't much, as he wasn't very materialistic. He shouldered the bag, and then a moment later, put it down. He wouldn't need it.

He headed out into the woods, going the opposite way that Martyn had gone. He just strolled for awhile, enjoying the air and sunshine. At the edge of the woods was his destination, a sudden drop of hundreds of feet that offered a stunning view of the horizon and long stretching plains. He stood at the top, and took a deep breath, tasting the sweet air. Then he stepped off.

The air whipped past his face, but he kept his eyes closed. He fancied he could almost hear Martyn yelling, "_Toby!_"-beckoning him to the next life with his tree. Toby smiled.

He didn't feel his body breaking against the ground.

* * *

Martyn stared at the note he clutched in his hand. He had come into Toby's cabin when he returned from his walk with Kaeyi. He couldn't believe he had _left. _The note said so, at least, and also that Toby wasn't blaming any one. It said not to look for him, because they wouldn't find him. Martyn blinked back tears and looked around the sparse cabin. Toby's bag lay in the corner, filled with stuff. He wouldn't have left that unless…

Martyn charged outside, yelling into the still evening air- "NO! Toby, you don't have to do this!" His voice broke, and he whispered, "Please come back…"

Kaeyi left the other cabin when she heard Martyn yelling. She stood beside him. "What's going on?" she asked. Martyn quickly showed her the note. Kaeyi was shocked. She thought he was quiet because she didn't know him well. She had figured he was always like that. Now she knew otherwise.

Toby opened his eyes. He was standing next to his bed, the blissful smile still on his face. He furrowed his brow, and the smile vanished. He had just died. Why wasn't he with his tree?

Martyn walked dejectedly into the cabin, Kaeyi trailing him. He was holding the note, and his eyes glistened. He looked at the ground. "I can't believe I drove him away." he said to her. He looked up and saw Toby standing there. "Toby!?" he cried, confused and joyous. He took a few steps towards his friend, but stopped. "How did you get in here?" Martyn asked "Are you a ghost?"

Toby shook his head, and found his voice "No, I don't know what happened. I was at the cliff, and I jumped, and…" His voice trailed off, and he started to sob in delayed shock.

Martyn walked over to Toby, and embraced him. He patted Toby's back, while his friend shook with tears. Martyn was relieved to find that Toby was solid. "You're never unwanted, Toby." he whispered

Kaeyi stood by the door, feeling guilty. To Toby it must have felt like he was alone. The two guys stepped back from each other, and Toby cleared his throat. Kaeyi looked at Toby. "I'm so sorry Toby. I never meant to steal Martyn." She grinned. "I'm willing to share"

Martyn dried his eyes and smiled also. "You've got to stay around long enough to be witness to the Induction ceremony, at least!"

Toby's eyes widened. Kaeyi was joining the Keepers? Something like this had happened only in legend! His eyes darted to Martyn's face, then Kaeyi's. "Martyn, you mean to say- Of course!" A record of the ceremony, which the trees would conduct, would be the first of its kind! Being a witness to such a thing would be the greatest honor.

Martyn smiled at Toby, and gave his arm a squeeze. "Don't leave again Toby, please. You're still my best friend." He said it softly, too quiet for Kaeyi to hear. He stepped back and left the cabin with Kaeyi.

Toby didn't know why the forest had chosen to save him, but he was glad it had. He felt the familiar sting on the back of his neck, but he was too happy to care.

_(Author's note- This was a hard chapter for me to write. I'm really not a ruthless author. Killing characters kills a tiny piece of my soul, even if they come right back.)_

**End of Chapter 7**

**Chapter 8**

After recording his success with the bats, Lalna had walked into the 'Immortal' room, to test out a new idea. He wanted to see if he could tweak the code to allow the user to respawn with all of their things. Then he had realized that he hadn't shut down the program. He managed to stop the creation of new chips, but could find no way to deactivate the ones that already escaped. After mashing the 'x' button a few times, he decided that perhaps saving a few lives wouldn't be so bad. He just wouldn't be able to implement the new ideas. If he erased the hard drive he could probably stop it, but then he would lose everything he had already done. He elected to let it be.

That had been three days ago.

Lalna awoke to the sound of urgent beeping coming from down the hall. He threw on his lab coat over his nightclothes and dashed down the corridor. He quickly located the source- the Beta room. A flashing light above the doorway fueled his budding panic. He frantically pulled the levers and barged through the doorway.

The beeping came from a single monitor, and a flashing message read:

[Specimen Ready]

Lalna sighed with relief. The last time that urgent beeping had awoken him, the Alpha specimen had destroyed the tank and half of the lab. The alarm was deafening, so Lalna turned it off, and then studied the tank. The specimen _did_ seem to be ready despite being a few days early. Lalna shrugged and started the final stage of the experiment.

First, he drained the remaining blue liquid from the tank. That part was quick, and soon the tank was dry. Lalna dissembled the sides of the tank, so the subject was lying on a table, connected to a host of machines. Lalna strapped the specimen to it, and then rotated the table 75 degrees so the specimen was almost standing. Lalna took out all of the cables except the ones keeping the lungs and the heart working, and inserted one to keep it sedated. He put a tiny chip underneath its skin, and the vital signs of the specimen popped onto the monitor. All seemed to be well. Lalna carefully dressed it in a hospital gown.

Lalna closely examined the specimen again, and took detailed notes

**Beta Lab Log Three Lalna**

_The specimen is completely formed now. I will keep personal bits out of this, because this is for scientific reference only. The specimen is male, and is 6ft 5in tall, with a matching arm-span. It has dark tan skin and well-defined muscles. Its hand span is ten inches, and its feet are 16 inches long. It has pale purple eyes. It's vital signs are good and it has healthy mental activity. Besides the eyes, it seems to be fully human at first glance, but I will have to do blood work to see just how true that is. This has been far more successful that Alpha, but I will have to see if it can survive without the machines._

_End_

Finally, Lalna prepared to remove the final tubes that kept the specimen alive. He carefully took them out, and turned off the machines. The specimen's heart faltered twice, and Lalna's own dropped, but then its heart recovered and beat strongly. Its chest rose without anything powering it.

Lalna nearly cheered, but caught himself. The sedative would be nearly worn off by now, because he took out that tube too, and there had to be a constant flow or it would not be effective.

Indeed, the specimens pale eyes fluttered open. Lalna quickly undid the straps that held him to the table, because he did not want the specimen to be scared of him. He took a step back, and watched it. The specimen looked puzzled. It raised a hand to eye level and looked at it very closely. He took an unsteady step forward, and noticed Lalna for the first time. It looked at him, and then fell to the ground. It shook wildly, and Lalna was shocked, not knowing what was happening, or how to help.

The specimen stopped shaking, and held its head up, glaring at Lalna. It growled gutturally, and dragged itself towards him. The eyes were filled with hatred, and seemed darker, as though storm clouds gathered there. Suddenly those evil eyes went blank, and the specimen started to shake again. The monitor shrilled an alarm, and the specimen went still. Its heart had stopped! But as Lalna unfroze and prepared to resurrect him, it resumed again.

It opened its eyes, pale once more. It occurred to the scientist that the wide pastel eyes were like a child's. Purple, child eyes in a man's face. Lalna decided to take things in stride, and helped it up. "Hello. Can you understand me?" It nodded, which meant that the memory transfer had worked. It should be able to talk too. Lalna continued speaking "Excellent, I'm-" he didn't really know what to say. 'Creator' sounded strange, and 'Father' wasn't right either. Lalna coughed. "I'm your host." he said. "Now how do you feel?"

The Specimen spoke for the first time, with a strangely exotic voice. "I'm fine… you are..." he paused, and searched through the memories he had that he couldn't explain. "You are Lalna. You are a scientist. I am Rythian." He frowned "I don't know what I am."

**End of Chapter 8**

_(Authors note- Since I was organizing these by parts, this is the end of part two! They are really just flying by. Thank you everyone who is reading this, for all of the support you give simply by reading. That was quite a cliffhanger, huh? I'm working on Chapter 29 right now, so progress hasn't paused at all. Don't worry; I will keep uploading on Fridays. See you next week, and leave a review if you want and favorite this story if it deserves. Have an amazing week!)_


	8. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

_(Authors Note- Hey guys! I'm uploading a day early because I will not have an opportunity tomorrow. Progress on the later parts of the story has slowed a bit, but I managed to write three chapters this week, making a total of 29 so far. Thank you for the reviews and thank you for reading my story. This has gotten to be something, at last, and it makes me feel like I'm capable of more than the depressing shorts I usually write (not for this site). I love writing for you guys, and you are all truly great. Have a wonderful day and enjoy the story!)_

Rythian stared at the scientist. He was a bit shorter than Rythian, and much paler. He had yellow-_no, it's blonde. _ He had blonde hair. Rythian looked at the room around him. Strange machines lined the walls. "Where am I?" he asked

Lalna smiled reassuringly "You are in a safe place." The smile seemed false, but Rythian wasn't yet a good judge of people. Rythian was confused. He had strange, fuzzy thoughts. He was running through tall golden stalks-_ Grass. _He was chasing a fuzzy beast-_ dog. _Scraping his knee and crying at the feeling- _pain. _He gave a woman a hug-_mother. _ But he had never done any of these things. They were not his memories.

He suddenly felt a jolt of that feeling, pain, but it was far more intense than his memory supplied. It stabbed through the back of his skull and burned behind his eyes. He felt it paralyze his legs and his hands contorted into useless claws. His eyes narrowed, and he saw everything through a cloudy haze. He wheezed for breath, and then he was falling_…_

"Whoa there." Lalna caught Rythian, whose knees had started to buckle. "Still a bit dizzy, huh?" The scientist's voice was falsely cheerful. He was actually very worried. It seemed the specimen was not in such good health after all. Its mouth worked uselessly for a moment, and then he went completely limp. The monitor was silent , not screaming its alarm, so he wasn't dying, just unconscious.

Lalna left the room, with Rythian on a stretcher. He took him down a few halls, to a large room with a concrete and reinforced glass chamber, just in case Rythian turned violent. It was simple and comfortable inside, with a bed, and some books, a table and a sofa. It wasn't meant to be a prison, just a place to keep the subject until there were more permanent plans. Lalna quickly drew some blood, put Rythian in the bed, locked the chamber door, and went to run some tests.

* * *

The sun rose a few days later, finding Lalna bent over a microscope. He couldn't explain his findings, despite running several tests and spending countless hours observing Rythian's behavior.

Lalna had extracted Rythian's DNA from a skin clipping he had taken when he drew the blood, that first night. He had only just looked at it, when it unraveled. Basically, it self-destructed, which was unfortunate and inexplicable in itself, but wasn't the cause of Lalna's confusion. What puzzled him more was what happened after that.

The DNA would then reform, like nothing had happened. It followed a clock. For about an hour, it seemed to have completely normal activity, and then it would tear a little and rejoin back together many times for about 11 hours. Then, all at once, it would tear utterly apart, only to be violently flung back together. That last step would be fatal if the DNA didn't rejoin, but as it did, Rythian survived the episodes. However, his heart would stop, just as though he had died. He would pass out every 12 hours or so and then suddenly recover. It was pretty much a forced nap, which felt like being ripped apart from the inside. It took between fifteen and thirty minutes for the specimen to regain consciousness.

The pain this process would cause is unimaginable. Literally, the specimen's body was torn apart, and then thrown back together, over and over again.

Even more of a puzzle was the mental activity. Generally during the worst of the DNA episodes, the mental activity would change completely. When that happened, the eyes would grow darker or lighter. It seemed that the different hues signified different personalities. One was more tolerant, and the other was very aggressive. There were only those two, and no more had appeared in the past several days. However, this didn't always happen during the DNA tear. Sometimes, it would just happen very suddenly. This also caused the specimen pain and loss of consciousness, but not to the extremes shown in the DNA process. He recovered much more quickly. The specimen didn't seem to be aware of the other sharing his headspace, but knew that he was there. Lalna had told him in an attempt to use hypnotherapy to control the dueling personalities.

It was the personality that Lalna was trying to understand now. Over the past few days, the more aggressive personality was in control more often. It seemed to be the dominant one. When it was in control, the specimen had darker eyes. They were still a shade of purple, but were the dangerous violet of an angry storm. His eyes were furious and deadly, but still seemed to be oddly innocent and childish. It had a chilling effect.

The aggressive personality at first couldn't speak, only growl or roar half-words. Over a few days it had learned to articulate, and was actually a quite convincing speaker. It had tried to sweet talk Lalna into letting him go, and Lalna had only _just_ resisted, because he wasn't sure that he would survive the experience if the specimen attacked. The specimen was quite strong, and taller than Lalna by at least 6 inches.

When Lalna didn't let him out, the next day the specimen pounded on the glass and screamed obscenities, still to no avail. Now he spent most of the time on the bed or the sofa, deep in thought. Occasionally he would get up and pace. When it was the milder personality, the specimen would talk to Lalna through the glass. He wasn't happy about being captive, but he wasn't violent. He would also read, or draw with crayon on the paper Lalna had given him. Lalna wouldn't give him anything sharper than that.

Lalna didn't know what to make of it. Nothing could seem to keep the agreeable personality around longer, or the aggressive one at bay. He had tried several methods, including pills, and special foods. A note next to the microscope read "shock treatment tomorrow" He had written it yesterday. He wanted to put it off, because he didn't want to be cruel. His way of rationalizing the tests he had to perform was that he had no choice. He had caused this poor being unimaginable pain just by giving it life. He would fix it. He had too.

He sighed with apprehension. This wasn't going to be easy. He put on thick leather armor he always wore when visiting the specimen, and grabbed a wooden sword. "Just in case…" he told himself.

One of the computers on the counter beeped, and Lalna glanced at it. He smiled; the specimen was sleeping, and its mental activity was starting to change into its nonaggressive state. That would make this slightly easier. Lalna pushed a button on the wall, and a gas filled the room. It wasn't anything harmful, just a slight sedative to prevent it from awaking for 20 minutes or so. It would knock a normal person out for an hour, but things like that were not as effective on the specimen. As soon as the room was clear of the gas, Lalna hurried in towing some machinery.

He dragged the specimen from the bed, and into a chair. It slumped over slamming its head against the table. Its eyelids fluttered, and Lalna panicked. He hurriedly secured it to the chair with several plastic cables, and bound its hands together. By the time the specimen fully came to, he had several wires connected to his arms and chest. There was a small metal box these wires connected to, and the box in turn was plugged into the wall.

Lalna was somewhat sweaty. He had barely connected the specimen to the box when it blinked its pale eyes open. "Huh…?" it whispered, looking at its shackles with confusion.

Lalna smiled. "Good morning Rythian." He greeted. He made sure to use the name it had given itself, as it became quite touchy when referred to as "It" or "Specimen". Lalna supposed he would be offended too. He didn't like to call him "Rythian" when it wasn't necessary, because if he got too personally involved, it would affect his judgment. This was for science after all.

"Lalna, why do you insist in holding me here against my will? This is a discussion we have had many times. You lie when you say you're my host. You hold me prisoner in this cell, and now you've actually tied me up." Lalna winced. Though he knew the binding was necessary, he disliked it also.

Lalna responded with-"Don't worry friend, it's in the name of science. I will fix your problems" Rythian frowned "I'm not sure I can call you a friend." Lalna sighed. "Rythian, you know that you have another person in your head with you. You know that he hates me with a passion, and you know he takes control, and would kill me as soon as look at me." His tone was like that of a teacher scolding an errant child. "That is why the rope is necessary."

Rythian scowled, displeased with the condescending tone but before he could respond, a great shaking seized him. He shouted a garbled word that sounded like "Stop!" His head whipped back and forth, an ungodly howl erupting from his throat. His eyes started to flicker between light and dark, and the bonds were taut as he pulled against them.

Lalna was shocked and thankful for the strength of the bindings. He glanced at his watch, where a 12 hour countdown had reached 0:00. He swore under his breath; he hadn't been watching the time, and this was the big 12-hour-episode. Rythian suddenly went limp, and Lalna watched anxiously. When at last Rythian raised his head, Lalna breathed a sigh of relief.

But now his eyes were very dark, almost black. They flickered to pale one last time, and Rythian shuddered "Why don't you just kill me?" he asked in a cracked, strained voice "or do you like my pain?" His eyes closed and he slumped over.

Lalna felt for a pulse, but found nothing. This episode had lasted longer than the others; perhaps he really was gone this time. Just as Lalna thought that, Rythian took a heaving breath. His eyes were dark as pitch. "You scum!" He shouted. His voice echoed off of the walls, making it seem much louder. Rythian snarled offences at Lalna, who paid no mind. The bonds were stretched dangerously tight as Rythian struggled against them.

Lalna picked up a small remote that lay on top of the box. He pressed the only button. Rythian was roaring a string of curses when the current ripped through him. His back arched, and his eyes widened. They turned lighter.

"Why Lalna…?" he panted. Then his eyes darkened again. Fury replaced confusion. "You dirty scientist!" he accused. "You will pay in blood!" Lalna calmly stood up, and though he was terrified inside, his hands were steady. He administered a large dose of sedative through an arm port to Rythian, who thrashed and glared at him with hateful eyes until he was out. Lalna knew that despite the size if the dose, it wouldn't last long. Like the gas, the injected sedative wore off quicker on Rythian than an ordinary human.

Lalna acted quickly, untying the specimen, and detaching the wires. He grabbed the box, and left the room with everything. He secured the door, double checking the lock. He drew up everything the room's sensors had recorded, and recorded what he had observed. For the rest of the day, he thoroughly examined everything, but none of it held the answers. He still had no clue how Rythian's DNA could repair itself, or why he had two personalities. Only further testing could answer those questions.

**End of Chapter 9**


	9. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_(Author's Note- Hey everyone! I'm so sorry to be a few days late with my uploading of this new chapter. There was a hurricane. Thanks Arthur! Also it was the Fourth of July, and for all you non-Americans who don't know the hell of huge crowds and ceaseless fireworks well into the early morning, just know that it is, in fact, hell. I'm patriotic and all, but I don't see the point in sending tiny bombs into the air and detonating them. They just trigger the headaches I'm prone to. One last note, this chapter has violence, and blood. It finally earns the 'teen' rating I gave it. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and have a wonderful day!)_

Alarms blared through the Lab, again tearing Lalna from the grasp of sleep. He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him why the alarms were shrieking. The only way they would go off like that is if the observation chamber had been forced open- or if something had broken its way out…

He rushed to his armory first, the cruel alarms echoing in his ears. The small room was poorly stocked. He cursed his forgetfulness, as he had meant to craft a new set of iron armor, along with a sword. As it was, the best he could manage was a dented iron chest plate and a badly strung bow, with 2 barely useable arrows. He had been truly involved with the entire Beta project, and the weapons at his disposal reflected that. His shots would have to count. He had no time to prepare further. He grabbed the bow and threw on the chest plate, then charged out of the armory.

A newly installed screen on one of the walls showed a CCTV's live feed of the chamber Rythian had been held in. Lalna expected to see that the door had been forced, but what he saw was far more alarming. Shards of glass covered the floor, just grainy distortions on the screen. All of the concrete from one side had been reduced to rubble. How had he managed_ that_?

Suddenly he heard a crash at the end of the hall. He turned quickly to face the noise. There was a solid stone wall with a think iron door barricading the majority of the lab from the Beta wing, or at least there used to be. The iron door was just a twisted hunk of smoldering metal now, and the wall had fragmented into thousands of tiny pieces that had been thrown outward from the blast. Rythian stood behind the rubble, a silhouette against the leaping flames behind him. Only his dark eyes glittered against his featureless face. They glowed in the dark like a cat's.

"I said that you would pay Lalna" Rythian's voice was horse and the rasp made Lalna's skin crawl. He must have inhaled smoke from the fires that flared behind him. The heat emanating from the inferno was so intense; Lalna wondered how Rythian could stand so near it. It didn't even seem like ordinary fire, but stronger somehow, in essence _more_ than just fire. A wave of heat hit the scientist, and among the heat, it somehow held a chill that stood the hair on his neck on end.

Lalna forced his shaking hands still. There was no denying it. Rythian petrified him. He tried to raise the bow, but Rythian yelled something and a sudden _pulse _of force lifted Lalna off of his feet, and he flew back into the wall on the opposite end of the hallway. The force had hit him directly in the chest, and if not for the armor, his heart would have been crushed and he'd of died instantly. As it was, he felt something crack, and a building pressure in his lower back that suddenly rushed from him like air from a punctured balloon. His head struck the stone, and his vision blurred. There was no other explanation for the way Rythian seemed to be in one place one moment, and then half way down the hallway the next.

The pressure pining Lalna to the wall disappeared, and he slid to the ground with a grunt. His arms wouldn't respond to his commands, nor would his legs, and his face hit the stone floor. The lens of his goggles shattered, sending the glass out into the hall, and a few minuscule shards into his left eye. Half of his vision faded away in a cloud of red, and he felt a warm trickling down his cheek. He felt oddly disconnected, unable to feel the pain he knew should rack him. It only fueled his panic.

He tried to speak up, to reason, or to plead, but he could not utter a sound. The breath had been taken from his lungs and he lay gasping like a grounded fish. The breaths he could take were heavy, and tasted of iron. He could only watch in horror through his non-blinded eye as Rythian took a few steps closer and laughed manically. After a moment, Rythian stopped his insane cackling to intimidate Lalna further. "I have powers, Lalna. Powers you never imagined." The already eerie glow from his eyes intensified, and his outstretched hands were haloed in a ring of purple fire.

Lalna's hands trembled, but he found he could move them, if only slightly. He tried to cover his face, as if that would protect him. Even this simple act made him sick with pain, and spots of agony dotted his blurred half-eyesight. Instinct screamed at him to run, but he doubted that getting to his feet was even possible right now. He could feel as the blood left his body, slowly pooling around him and filling his senses. Everything was blood. It was all he could see, and he could smell. He quivered like one of the bats he experimented on, and indeed, the fear he felt was primal; it was fear of the unknown.

Rythian laughed again, less hysterical now and more calculating. He was enjoying the dominance he had over the scientist. "You are loathsome, and I despise you." Rythian's voice rang out, unnaturally loud and powerful. With every word he took a long stride forward. When he stopped he was only ten feet from the scientist and his entire being was surrounded in shimmering energy. "It's time to die, Lalna." He lifted his hands up, the swirling violet fire gathering into a deadly ball.

Lalna's mind was nothing more than raw panic, but he could not even move. He knew that even with the experimental immortal chip in his neck he could die if the chip was destroyed before his heart stopped, or if it malfunctioned somehow, which was more likely than he liked to admit, as the program was still very buggy and unreliable. That would be it, game over. He wanted nothing more than to throw himself at this god's feet, and beg for mercy.

Then a shred of sanity broke through his terror-induced haze. Rythian was in control, yes. But he was cheating, using these strange powers to impose this fright on Lalna. The scientist would probably die, seeing as he was halfway there anyway, but he would face his death with bravery. His arms collapsed, unable to support the weight he put on them. His arms were outstretched in front of him, as he lay on the ground, unable to move at all. He fought the haze of terror and painfully forced his good eye to meet Rythian's glowing ones. The scientist stared at him in quiet defiance, unable to speak, but packing thousands of words in that bold glare.

Something in the air broke, and Rythian doubled over as though he had been punched. The eyes, so hostile before, widened but saw nothing. The moan of an animal in pain replaced the arrogant voice. The wide, pain-struck eyes closed, and he shuddered. The eyes opened, soft and lighter than the harsh dark they had been before. The mystical aura surrounding him vanished, and Rythian fell to his knees. When that happened, the fires burning behind him simmered down, and lost the tremendous strength they had burned at before. They were quite small now, and cast very little light. The only significant light now came from the distant electrical ones, the occasional torch in the hallway, and the faint glow from Rythian's eyes.

He looked at Lalna, his gaze soft and weary. "I don't really like you any better than he does. I tried to stop him before because I didn't want blood and destruction on my hands, but I couldn't. If you hadn't broken the power he had over you, allowing me to seize control, I doubt you would be alive right now." He paused for a moment and walked towards Lalna, who drew his head back, eyes clouded. The scientist was already beginning to slip away. Rythian mistook the movement for a sad attempt to put up a fight. He raised one eyebrow. "You know that if you try to stop me, he might take control again."

Lalna nodded, agony coursing through his body, until he went strangely numb around his waist. Rythian walked over to the scientist, and stood over him. His hands glowed again, but it wasn't the same fiery glow as before. Instead a luminous lavender mist drifted towards Lalna, who felt strangely at peace, despite the circumstances. All of the panic left his body, and now he just wanted to sleep.

The mist enveloped Lalna like a blanket, and wherever it touched, it healed. He felt something shift in his back, and the anguish he felt throughout his upper half flooded to his legs and feet as well. His ribs shifted into place, sending quick jolts of pain down his arms. Other bones began to knit, and each time they clicked together, it was like being stabbed with a dagger of ice. The trickling of the blood down the back of his head stopped, the glass splinters popped out of his eyeball, falling to the ground with a faint tinkle, and his vision cleared, as though it had never been blind. He got his first good look at Rythian.

He was wearing the leather armor Lalna usually wore while checking on him, and he seemed even taller and prouder, freed from the constraints of his cage. Then Lalna noticed Rythian's face. Great black marks covered the lower half of it. He had gotten burned in the fire, and his DNA healing wasn't doing anything about it. Lalna idly wondered how severe the burn had to be that the healing could only turn it to scars, and not totally erase it. Lalna's mind was wandering, and he was really out of it, as though he could slip away and awake from it all like a dream. The healing mist faded away, and Lalna couldn't feel anything. Everything weighed on him like a heavy dream.

Rythian suddenly clutched his head. "No…." He groaned. Then more firmly- "NO!" His eyelids fluttered despite his protests, and he shot a worried glance at Lalna. "I've got to get away!" he hissed through clenched teeth. He charged down the hall, past Lalna, and something exploded loudly. Lalna didn't even have the time to feel even vaguely worried, because he had already blacked out.

**End of chapter 10**


	10. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

_(Hey guys! Listen, I know that I usually ramble in these notes, but this is __**Important! **__I'll say it again. __**THIS IS IMPORTANT. **__Right, so Rythian is sort of two people. He has voices, or rather _a_ voice that speaks to him, but beyond that it can take control over their shared body. Neither of them is _'more' _Rythian, they just have slightly different personalities. As in one is kinda bloodthirsty, and the other is a bit more reasonable (But still hates Lalna). They switch control over the body, fairly often and I'll try to be clear when the control changes happen. When the voice speaks, it is generally referred to as 'Brother', and it speaks in italics, while whichever is dominant at the time speaks in normal font. They both call each other brother while speaking amongst themselves, mentally. It sounds confusing, but really, it's not, once you get to reading it. So why am I holding you up? Enjoy the story and have a lovely day!)_

Rythian struggled against the other consciousness, which was trying to take control over the body again. He couldn't let that happen. Of course he wanted Lalna to know the pain he was constantly in, but Rythian hadn't signed up for murder, despite what Brother tried to convince him was justice. He felt that beating Lalna close to death, gloating over his broken, barely living body, and scaring him silly was more than enough payback. As he felt Brother start to overpower him, he also felt the sharp pains like nails in the back of his skull. He looked at Lalna, who was dazed and nearly unconscious, despite the healing Rythian had preformed. If Brother had control here, Lalna would be dead in an instant.

_"__Don't resist Brother."_ The other voice purred. "No…" Rythian whispered. _"You just make it harder for yourself. Just let me." _Rythian clenched his fists, "NO!" he yelled out loud, though he knew it wasn't necessary. His defiance would lead to worse pain, he knew. But he wouldn't kill a helpless man in cold blood.

Just as he expected, the wave of pain from Brother nearly forcing Rythian out of control almost swept him off his feet. Rythian hunched over, and desperately said, "I've got to get out of here!" to no one in particular. Lalna still gazed at him with a blank face of vague shock and confusion. Rythian charged past the scientist, who didn't even follow him with his eyes. The glass from one of the scientist's goggle lenses crunched under Rythian's feet.

A stone wall lay between him and the outside world. He hadn't been in control when Brother had knocked down the walls, but he had seen and felt what he had done. He held a hand in front of him, trying to draw from the energy inside of him. He had healed Lalna, and this was a similar concept, except healing required calm thoughts and demolishing a wall took anger. Rythian thought of the fury and betrayal he felt when Lalna had tied him up, and drew on it. He molded it inside of him, and then _pushed _the power from himself. The force blew the wall outward, some chunks flying as much as 30 feet from where the wall had been.

Brother had stopped attacking Rythian's mind, and was sulking that he couldn't have his way, but even he had to say, _"Not bad." _A strange emptiness filled his insides, where he had held the anger, but despite it Rythian dashed out of the opening, and went outside for the first time in his life.

He wore no shoes, but there was plenty of soft grass there. He felt it underneath his toes, and decided that no other feeling could compare. Unless maybe it was the cool night air, or the muffled night sounds. Or maybe the beauty of the moon, high above, cold and unchanging in the deep, dark sky… _"Shut up with your poetry!" _Brother said irritably _"Let's get out of here before I change my mind and kill him anyway."_

That did it. Rythian raced away, not wanting to kill, even though his rage nearly matched that of Brother's. He ran as long as he could, but he was still new to the world, and his legs tired after a few miles. As he became weary, he stumbled and fell more than once. One of these falls was quite serious, and a sharp fallen branch carved a sizeable gash into his arm. He blinked away the pain and kept barreling on.

He couldn't stop, he refused to give Brother the temptation to return and kill Lalna. He ran until his legs gave out, and collapsed from the path he ran on to a small depression in the ground. Tall grass completely covered Rythian's prostrate body, and he lay there for a minute, straining just to catch his breath. When he recovered enough to rise his head and look around, he realized he was in a forest, with great trees that reached heavenward with their majestic limbs.

Rythian had memories of people in such a place, from the strange murky recollections he knew were not his own. The people were not described well, but the unceasing memories echoing around his head said that their names were Martyn and Toby. Apparently the Spaceman Xephos and the Dwarf Honeydew were good acquaintances of these woods people. Rythian rather wanted to meet the dwarf and his friend, as they were involved in several of the most prominent recollections, and seemed to be very interesting. Rythian got up from the ground and stood, still a little lightheaded.

_"__Brother" _The other growled _"why can't we head back and finish him off now? You've had your run, and your say. Now let me do what I want." _Rythian shook his head "No, I won't let you kill. It's just not right. Isn't it enough to have gotten away? We're free now!" He didn't speak aloud now, just thought the words.

_"__No!" _Brother hissed, and a sharp pain afflicted Rythian's leg. His temples pounded "_Do you like this pain? He made us this way! Our Powers heal us too quickly for us to die, as we should have a week ago. We were never destined to survive, so we will be in constant agony! It is entirely his fault!"_

Rythian sighed, knowing that the voice was right, at least about that part. He turned his pale eyes to the gash on his arm, which was nearly gone now, just a faint pink line. He tried to placate the voice. "But we are alive, and we have to take advantage of that. It's a beautiful thing, and I just can't imagine taking it from anyone. Let him live, and we will go far away. We can try to find a cure for the pains. None of our memories mention people like us, people with Powers. We can study the things we do, and find better ways to do it. I don't know about you, but that blasting earlier exhausted me, in a strange hollow way."

_"__Yes" _Brother sounded pleased. _"We will practice and become stronger. Then we return to kill the scientist in a better way!"_

Rythian didn't know how to dissuade this angry person in his head. "Listen, I hate the scientist as much as you, but I think we taught Lalna his lesson. He won't be messing with us, I'm sure. Besides the Powers are…well…pretty cool. Should we kill the one who gave them to us?" As he said this Rythian pulled on the strange force inside of him and made a spark of purple lightning trace along his fingertips. Using it this way, not with emotion, but at will brought a weird kind of exaltation. Energy filled Rythian, and the weariness from running lifted.

Brother spoke up. _"Fine, unless he bothers us again, I won't seek him out. If he confronts us I can't guarantee anything." _Rythian nodded contentedly. It was the best he could ask for, and indeed it was the same way he felt. If Lalna hadn't learned to leave him alone after this night, and came after him, Rythian wouldn't fret over morals quite so much. _"Now Brother, I have something I would like to try. I think the pain from us switching control would stop if we don't resist each other. Just relax and don't fight me now."_

Rythian felt the other consciousness start to overpower his own, and couldn't help a tiny start of panic. When he tensed up, blasting agony shot out from the base of his skull down his spine and to his arms and legs, tracing invisible lines. Brother stopped his advance and held himself there, halfway in control. _"Take a few breaths."_ His voice was strained, like he could feel the pain too. Rythian followed Brother's instructions, and fought down the dread he felt at being out of control. Brother continued his intrusion. Rythian felt only a few twinges, and was soon just an observer, still able to see, hear and feel everything, but unable to act. _"Thank you." _He said _"That was not as bad as before."_

Rythian's eyes darkened when he had full control, and he blinked a few times. He held his hands up, and wiggled his digits. He pulled on the same pool of Energy inside of him, and channeled it out of his finger tips. A thin, wispy thread of flame shot out, and twisted around his hands, like the electricity had. It was the same color as the electricity, a vivid purple, though a slightly darker hue, like his eyes were darker. "Our magic is different." He pointed out, sounding faintly dissatisfied.

_"__Yes," _Brother agreed. _"That's pretty interesting. I don't know why." _Rythian forced a little more energy out, and the fire grew stronger, covering his hands. Instead of snaking around his hands, the blaze shimmered in one place, forming a glowing ball. The fire was comfortably warm, but it didn't burn, like the fire at the lab had. The lab fire had started when Rythian had accidently knocked over a cart holding some sort of chemicals. The fire had leapt up, and brushed against Rythian's leg. When it touched him, it drew from him, and the fire grew into a mighty inferno, with an unnatural energy. It had blinded him for a moment, and the pain had nearly been as bad as the 12 hour ones. His vision was back, and all the other pains had mended, but Rythian realized the skin on his face felt odd, stretched tight.

He closed his open hand, and the flame vanished. He reached his hand up to touch his cheek, and was shocked by the ridges and stiff skin he felt. "Why didn't my face heal? All of the other injuries we've ever gotten have." He asked, worried. Rythian didn't really feel any discomfort from the burns, and the tight feeling was already fading, but he had never had a lasting mark on his body.

_"__I don't know. Maybe the burns were too bad for us to heal all at once" _The voice suggested helpfully. _"Or it's something else. The flames drew power from us when it made contact with our skin. Perhaps that had something to do with it."_

Rythian tried to fight down the fury that started to rise within him, but self control wasn't his strong suit. "Naturally that mangy scientist had some sort of fire on hand that would permanently harm us!" He raged "Something we couldn't heal that would leave revolting scars! How are we meant to live normal lives away from here, and avoid Lalna when we will be the most recognizable and repulsive person around!" Not that Rythian was against finishing off the scientist, rather than just 'avoiding' him, but he knew the pesky moralistic person sharing his head would fight him every step of the way.

That particular moralistic person was indeed stumped. He had been so concentrated on stopping unnecessary bloodshed; he hadn't thought much about what was next. He had no calming words to offer Brother. Rythian was indeed literally glowing with ire now, as his hands shimmered with the purple fire once more. The strange unearthly glow that had surrounded him in the lab enclosed him again. His eyes were wild pools of untamable wrath. Frankly, anyone witnessing this would have been sure that this was some malevolent supernatural being, bent on destroying the world.

In actuality, it was a mere temper tantrum. Rythian raised his blazing hands, and sent a river of flames at the trunk of a nearby giant. He roared a wordless cry, and the Voice in his head frantically tried to soothe him. It worked, after a few minutes, and Rythian lowered his hands, the insane look gone from his eyes. He panted for a moment, tired from the sudden surge of Power.

Then a different voice behind him yelled "Hey! What were you just doing to my tree?! Get away from it!" Rythian turned swiftly, ready to reduce the intruder into a pile of ashes _"NO!" _the Voice yelled. _"Give me control! NOW!" _ Brother didn't wait for Rythian to concede, and forced him out. Rythian resisted as little as he could, realizing the pain he would feel otherwise. He still shuddered, and grimaced, but the twinge was nothing compared to what it had been before.

Toby watched in shock as the stranger that had been brutally burning his tree started to tremble. He didn't lower his guard, but every second that went by made him surer that the newcomer wouldn't attack. His bow didn't waver though he was not nearly as good a shot as Martyn. This distance was short enough that a single arrow was still a sure kill. The unfamiliar person soon stopped his trembling, and opened his eyes, which Toby noticed were a peculiar shade of lilac. He smiled at Toby and took a step closer. "Stop it." Toby ordered, nodding towards his bow. He couldn't draw his eyes away from the stranger's face. Odd winding, blackish-purple marks formed a disorganized pattern, graceful and horrifying at the same time. Though they looked long healed, Toby wondered what could have caused the horrific scars. He noticed that similar disfigurements formed two symmetrical bands on the man's lower arms. Any other marks were hidden by the leather tunic he wore. Toby forced his attention from the scars, keeping an irate, watchful eye on the stranger.

The man chuckled softly. "Hello, you're Toby, right?" He paused for a second but Toby's face seemed to be made of stone. The man tried again "You're probably worried about your tree, right?" Toby nodded and angrily said "Yeah, you were _burning _it!" Toby thought for a moment, and then asked "And how do you know my name?" Toby was straining not to show it, but he felt the burning the tree suffered in his own side. It was what had brought him running here to confront this guy.

The man smiled mysteriously. "I know things. Now let me explain. I was walking though the forest, and noticed that this tree alone among the others was weak and sickly, though still glorious by any other measure." Inside, Rythian desperately hoped this was true, or he was in trouble. The Memories suggested that the woods people had strong ties to these trees. He continued his lie. "I was simply burning away the illness, so that I might heal it." Rythian watched the brown haired kid nod slowly to himself. It seemed like the story was passable.

Toby strove to keep his voice level. "Well, let's see this healing." He said. Excitement drummed in his belly. This guy obviously wasn't normal, shooting fire from his hands and all, but if he could heal trees, that could mean something different entirely.

Rythian took a deep breath and faced the scorch mark on the trunk of the massive tree. It looked severe but was tiny compared to the rest of the mammoth. He wasn't sure if his healing would fix the tree the same way it had fixed Lalna's injuries, but he had to try. If he didn't he could expect an arrow in his back, which while probably healable, still wouldn't be pleasant. Even worse, this woodsman might go to the scientist. He held his hand up in front of him, well aware of the bow still pointed at his back. He noticed the sun rising, and the stunning colors in the sky he could see through the leaves filled him with joy. The purples and pinks and oranges seemed so natural and beautiful, he just couldn't control the peculiar floating sensation he felt. He gathered all of the positive feelings inside of him and forced them out of his hands. A curling lavender vapor drifted over to the tree, and what followed was spectacular to behold.

The tree's burn mark was the first to heal. It was erased with only the tiniest amount of effort. The bulk of the mist was spent on long lasting problems. A microscopic pest that plagued the tree suddenly died in droves. The leaves became an unbelievably vibrant shade of green, despite fall being on the way. The tree had been slightly droopy, but still magnificent. With a groan it straightened up, and multicolored blossoms adorned the limbs. It was healthier and statelier than it had ever been. The last of the mist, unneeded, drifted away into the treetops, far, far above.

Rythian lowered his hands, spent from the amount of energy he had just channeled. He turned wearily and saw Toby looking at him with a mix of awe and worship. Toby had looked very tired and weak before, but like his tree, seemed to be in perfect health now.

When Rythian caught Toby's gaze, Toby snapped out of some sort of trance. He dropped his bow to the ground and fell to his knees. Rythian took a step back, unsure how to react. Toby looked at the ground as he spoke quickly and reverently. "My lord, I am so sorry I raised my bow against you! Had I but known you were the One I would have welcomed you with the respect you deserve."

_"__What the hell is he talking about?" _Brother asked Rythian, who shrugged. He then asked the question to Toby in a slightly politer way. Toby's eyes widened, "You mean to say you didn't know you were the One? You have to come with me, please. You are a long awaited person from a prophesy that was uttered long ago. It means that soon the world will soon be covered in a conflict that only you can resolve. You need to know more, and I can tell you back at my cabin. These woods are safe enough during the day, but we have to arrange proper living quarters for you before today's end. Also, we have a special ceremony today, and having the One witness it would be an unimaginable honor."

Rythian silently told Brother "It's better than losing our way in the woods. We can stay with him and the other one, Martyn and find out who it is they think we are." Brother agreed without words.

Rythian asked that Toby get up from the ground because though he didn't say so, he rather disliked having someone bow to him. When Toby arose, things were a bit more casual. Toby led Rythian along a path towards his house. He grinned after a moment of walking and Rythian asked why. Toby smiled even wider and replied. "Martyn never believed the legends, and always said that you would never return. He even doubted that you existed in the first place. Now I've found the One…" he paused. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking; what's your name? I can't keep calling you The One. It's a nice title, but not a proper name."

Rythian didn't think that he had to lie about his name, and he preferred to lie as little as possible. He smiled slightly, feeling the tight skin on his face stretch. "My name is Rythian." He said, and Toby nodded. After several more minutes along the trail, Toby asked another question. "The uh, scars on your face. How did you get them?" Rythian's expression darkened, and though he didn't like lying, did it anyway. "I've always had them." He said quickly. "I don't know how I got them." He could hear the Voice laugh bitterly. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

**End of Chapter 11**


	11. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_(Author's Note- Hey guys! I may or may not upload Friday, because I might be busy, so I'm uploading now. If I can I'll also upload on Friday. I don't really have much to say right now, so I'll talk to your guys again soon. By the way, don't hesitate to private message me with suggestions, ideas, or if you just want to say something. you can do that with my user- Mage-Pages. Enjoy the story, and have a lovely day!) _

Lalna came to leaning against the corridor wall. Next to him, sunlight glinted off of a small puddle of blood and shards of glass. His ears were ringing, and he reached up to pat the back of his head. There was no wound, but dried blood clumped his fine hair in foul clumps. He looked at the tacky congealed blood on his fingertips, and the events of the last night came rushing back to him.

Rythian was gone.

Lalna didn't know what to do about that. He had to stop him-that much was clear. He was way too dangerous to allow out in public. He would kill innocent, unsuspecting people like he had nearly killed Lalna. But Rythian had warned him to stay away, and had conjured the mist that healed him. Lalna was torn between his own fear of the strange powers Rythian had, and the duty he had to the people of Minecraftia. He had to bring to a halt this threat he had created. But he didn't even know how.

Lalna stood up carefully. The wave of dizziness that hit him was somewhat milder than he expected, which made what he had to do next a bit easier; walking. He lurched down the hallway like a seasick drunk, stopping often to lean on a wall. He eventually got to the containment chamber, where things were worse than the CCTV had suggested.

The glass was nearly all shattered, lying on the ground in pieces ranging from a few inches across to barely more than dust. The stone parts had fared only slightly better, with large boulders standing like giants over tiny stones and sand. Lalna couldn't imagine the sheer amount of pressure it would have taken to do _this._ Outside of the chamber, where Lalna had just come from, melted bits of glass hinted at the temperature the fires had reached. None of the stone had become lava, though much of it was blackened and charred, but if it had, the damage to the lab would have been far worse. As it stood, only the beta wing was trashed.

Lalna found a cart that had been knocked over. A few barely recognizable flasks and beakers were scattered around, all badly melted or somehow blown up. Lalna didn't know how they could have exploded until he remembered what had been stored in them. Two different chemicals that reacted if put together by violently exploding and burning for a short time. They shouldn't have been on the same cart, which was just careless organization on Lalna's own part. But the reaction was very small. It shouldn't have had even a tenth of the effect on the lab as it had. Why had this wing gone up in flames?

Lalna recalled the terrible burns Rythian had on his face. Perhaps the flame had been started when Rythian stumbled into the cart. If that had happened, the fire would have burned him, but not anywhere close to his face, unless it was bolstered by some sort of additional energy besides the reactive chemicals. The strange energy that had surrounded Rythian when he was trying to kill Lalna might have been somehow consumed by the fire. But there was no way to prove it, unless he could get Rythian in his possession again. Just the thought of confronting him again sent shivers up Lalna's spine. He felt a small bit of relief upon remembering that a few samples of the specimen's blood were in a storage vault. Still, it might not be enough

"It might be the only way to find his weakness, the only way to fix him, destroy him, end it…" Lalna realized he had been talking out loud, and shook his head, trying to clear the unpleasant thoughts. He would have to find a way to keep Rythian captive that would be unbreakable. Then he could focus on what was next. He put the entire matter out of his mind, and made his way back out of the Beta wing. He walked past the ruined wall that had previously sealed it off from the rest of the lab and headed to his room. He would clean up the fire damage and whatnot later. For now he just needed to calm down, though he didn't feel particularly stressed. In fact, he felt kind of dreamy and surreal. Surely he would wake up and the past few years would have been a bad dream. He would give anything to have never started Alpha, let alone Beta.

He had walked into his room and opened his closet, looking for some clean, blood-free clothes to put on. A pile of boxes in the corner caught his eye. Forgetting the clothes, he started to look through them. He was shocked to find that a few of them still held things he had yet to unpack after his move from Mistral City. He didn't know how he had missed them, but he had been busy since he had come here and built his lab. Also, the boxes had been halfway covered by a pile of unused blankets and some spare, rolled up carpeting.

One of the boxes held a few books, and Lalna picked up a family scrapbook. A tiny sketchbook fell into Lalna's lap, and his eyes widened. It was the one from his dream that had been lost for years, right here in his room! Here was a spot of good luck, among the bad.

He picked up the book, and flipped through the delicate yellowed pages gently. It wasn't that old, but the paper was not the best quality. He looked at a couple of the old drawings, not recognizing the person he used to be. Most of the drawings were of parts of the city or people he had known, but they all screamed of his sadness when he lived there. The color blue was prevalent.

He knew suddenly that the next page was the one had had drawn the sketch he had seen in his dreams on, and he took a deep breath in anticipation. He turned the page.

A pair of intricately detailed, glowing eyes stared out of a shaded, featureless face at Lalna, through the paper. It wasn't colored, but the shading hinted at a color lighter than brown and darker than blue or green. _Purple glowing eyes, pinning him to the walls, ready to tear him apart._

The book fell out of Lalna's fingers, and hit the floor with a clap. Lalna shivered for a moment, and stood up. He would find something else to paint on his floor.

**End of Chapter 12**


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